I got to take a 4 day break from...well...everything down in the Grand Staircase, or rather in the former Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, as what used to be a cohesive monument, is now broken up. That’s neither here nor there as most of the infrastructure is still shut down anyway.
This isn’t going to be very wordy, mostly a picture show with some description. I will say thanks to VicariousILive for going out of their way to help us find a site that ended up being a huge part of why the trip was so pleasant. We were able to spend just one night with his family but we wished it was more.
I decided to take the cruiser, the GX needs a little love in a new battery, new tires and new u-joints in the front driveshaft. While I know the cruiser can handle the trailer, our 2001 Coleman Niagra, I know it doesn’t love it, moving as quickly around town empty as the GX does with the trailer attached.
Here we are at nearly 9200 feet up the crazy steep boulder mountain road on highway 12. The slowest and steepest part of the trip for sure. 100 wheel hp at best at this elevation.
Given the heat, the altitude, the load and power (lack thereof) I knew it would it be a challenge, but man, was it ever. On the steepest bits we dropped to the high 20 mph range but once the 4 speed would finally kick down, or I forced it to stay in 1st I could maintain no slower than high 30's. The hottest it got was 97c (206.6 F) which is well below the AC cutoff at 105C which is the safety switch Toyota built in for cooling performance. Brakes were fine, steering was solid.
This area has a stunning variety, from pine trees and high mountain lakes at 8400 feet where we camped to slot canyons, and the hot dry desert 30 minutes later down near 4500 feet.
We were able to get partial credit on one of the two trails we REALLY wanted to do this trip: Calf creek falls, and peak-a-boo/Spooky loop. Peak-a-boo/spooky are semi technical slot canyons in a series that is very popular with families. Turns out they (whoever they are) decided that doubling the length of the hike by moving the parking low a mile away. This is a bad move. It’s a fully exposed hike were people get into heat trouble all the time. We packed 6 quarts of water for 2 adults and 2 kids for a 4 mile hike and we ran out near the end of the hike. Had this hike been the 2 miles we had expected it to be, it would have been excess water by a good amount. My 6 year old complained allot (she hates hikes) but we made it the 2.5 miles down into dry gulch and into Peak-A-Boo, so named because of the windows in the slot you can crawl through.
Once we got onto the plateau that links the two canyons together it was hot, the kids were slowing down and the route was not forthcoming despite having downloaded maps. I’ve done this hike 3 times, but always the opposite direction and while I am certain I could have found it with more looking it was clear to me that the additional mile would have been a big ask. That and the impending storm lingering near the headwaters of the gulch solidified my choice to about face and head back to Peak-a-boo. I’ve done technical and non technical slots for years and recognize that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to flash floods. They can be unpredictable and with devastating consequences.
We meet up with another family of 2 girls that also made a similar choice and were very happy to have company to validate each others concerns and of course to descend back down the entrance to the canyon they weren’t expecting to go down. I’m glad I brought a 20 foot climbing rope, as I was able to get 3 adults and 4 kids back down the wall by throwing a rope around my waist and anchoring the descent.
This place can be beautiful and dangerous. We moved as fast as we could to move out of the gulch which involved hiking up a hot, steep wash. It was a big hike for the girls, especially my 6 year old who we found out had outgrown her hiking boots and had a big nasty open blister on her heel when we took them off at the car. She didn’t complain though and despite having to be carried a few times she limped back to the car without too much drama. Later she did say the hike was her favorite. If it wasn’t for the additional 2 miles, we would have had made it, but another time.
p.s. the hole-in-the-rock area is pretty, but it’s the worst road...ever. miles and miles and miles of the WORST washboard roads you’ve ever driven on. I genuinely hate driving on this road no matter what it is Im driving. Even with the tires aired down it was brutal.
Back on the road, we went straight to the gas station to buy the kids ice cream and then back up the washboard road to camp where we spent the evening making tinfoil dinners. We all sleep very well.
The next day we had planned to do calf creek, but given the day before and the blisters on my daughters foot...it became the chill out day. We drove the mile up the road to Posey lake, up at 8600 feet to pull out the inflatable kayaks. We did the cliche’ stuff like splashing each other in the boats and just floating there. It was really nice. We all had a great time.
After that we went back to camp and just relaxed. Read books, caught up on shows (the girls and I are watching Avatar the last airbender together and they’ve become obsessed) and just generally hung out until it was time to make Dutch oven pizza, rice crispy treats and start movie night.
We made a deal that my daughter has to finish reading the harry potter books before she can watch the movie (my youngest just gets to reap the rewards) so I setup my small projector and converted the trailer into a theater so we could all watch Prisoner of Azkaban together.
For the last day we wanted to get out of camp before a storm was scheduled to hit and start the trip back home. We were all pretty ready despite having a great time. Instead of going back up over boulder mountain we decided to complete the highway 12 loop and head back west towards kodachrome basin and Bryce canyon. We did it partly because of the most mellow drive and partly to do one more hike on the way out in Bryce NP. It’s called mossy cave and it’s, in my opinion, the best of Bryce. .8 miles round trip loop, river, waterfall, hoodoos, etc. It’s great.
The rest of the drive home was, more or less, uneventful other than long and slow. The cruiser was a champ but its hilly the whole way home, there is a strong crosswind most of the way and the heat isn’t helping. With the A/C running and the fan clutch engaged (at 89c I think) it consumes quite a bit of what meager power was already getting to the road via the power hungry drivetrain. The good news is that I got 13 mpg towing, which is what I get pretty much all the time, so thats nice.
Good trip all in all.